The Demon Within

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mei stared at Certo's unmoving body as she trailed his body up and down, looking for any sign of life. After seeing he was no longer breathing, she waded through the blood that had come out of his body, slowly making her way back over to Takashi and Kazuma, who had smirks plastered on their faces. Kalik shook his head at the sight of her, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Um, you have a little blood on your face...well, everywhere actually," Takashi said as he pointed at her and Mei allowed a tired smile to cross her face. She wiped the blood off of her face, smearing streaks of it across her cheek. Mei opened her mouth to speak when Certo's tail burst from the lake of blood, the snake hissing at them as blood dripped from the top of the head. Mei didn't have time to react; the snake plunged its fangs into her side, lifting her into the air. Kazuma launched himself upwards towards the snakes head as Kalik rushed towards the base of it. Kalik hacked at the bottom of the tail, sending more blood spewing into the already filled tower room. The snake dropped Mei as it hissed in pain, sending her splashing into the blood. Kazuma veered downwards, his arm going right through the snakes head. The snakes' eyes rolled into the back of its head, falling lifeless towards the lake of blood. Kazuma pulled his hand out of the snake, his arm covered in blood. Takashi ran over and picked Mei up from the blood, and grimaced at the giant wound on her side.

"Damn, I thought he was dead," Kalik said as he waded over to Takashi.

"She busted his fucking heart, and his tail still lives? How the hell does that work?" Takashi grumbled as he sat Mei up gently. Mei looked down at her side, the wounds starting to slowly close. Mei looked as Kazuma walked towards her, his face grim.

"Are you sure he's dead now?" Kazuma asked, looking back over his shoulder at Certo's body.

"He should be. His heart is completely busted. Even a deity couldn't recover from that," Mei gasped out as the wound healed completely.

"But how did his tail survive?" Kalik asked. "Didn't Kazuma shred it to bits?"

"I don't know. It might've healed before I destroyed his heart," Mei said holding out her hand, and the Abyss Blade appeared in her hand in its one form. She took a deep breath and pulled herself away from Takashi's arms. "I'm sending him back into the abyss." Kazuma and the other two backed up, watching as Mei sloshed forward. Mei stood over Certo's face, the blood coming up to his eye sockets. Certo's body now was emptied of blood, making his face shriveled up. Mei put her sword above her head, and her sword took the form of the shuriken. She spun it violently, creating a black and purple tornado at the top of her blade, lightning covering the outside of the vortex. The vortex circled up into the sky, creating the portal Osamu had opened when he summoned him. Mei threw her blade, sending it spinning up into the portal. Once the blade reached the opening of the portal, a black veil came down from the portal, dissolving Certo's body. His body sucked back into the portal, followed by his lake of blood. Mei watched as the dissolved parts of Certo made its way back up into the sky, rotting as it went. Mei looked beyond the veil and saw thousands of apparitions, standing on the other side of the veil. Mei squinted her eyes, trying to make the figures out, when the sweet, smooth voice echoed in her head. You did it Mei. You won. I always knew you could. Now, let's go home. Mei saw the apparitions fade, and Mei knew she was looking at all of the demons who had been slayed up until now. Mei smiled as the black veil sealed off, returning to its place in the sky. The vortex vanished and the portal closed. Mei's sword came spinning back to her and she caught it with ease. Mei looked up in the sky, the small smile growing on her lips. Stay where you belong Certo. In our memories. Mei looked over her shoulder, smiling at the three of them, who returned her smile, fully knowing the chaos was over.

They made their way back down the stairs, none of them rushing to get to the room where they left Soushi. Mei knew with Certo being out of the picture for good, it would mean her and Kazuma would have to say goodbye to Kalik and Takashi. Even Kalik and Takashi were silent as they made their way back down. Once they entered the room, they saw Soushi struggling in the ropes they had tied him up with, the look of frustration and desperation filling his face. Kalik and Takashi ran over there, and Mei stopped at the entry way with Kazuma right behind her.